Llano River could house hydroelectric project

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  • The Llano River spillway on Town Lake has stopped flowing periodically due to drought conditions. A Minnesota-based company wants to tap into the waterway to generate power. Contributed
    The Llano River spillway on Town Lake has stopped flowing periodically due to drought conditions. A Minnesota-based company wants to tap into the waterway to generate power. Contributed
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In response to the Texas outages during Winter Storm Uri, a Minnesota-based company has proposed tapping into the Llano River to use the resource to create alternative energy solutions.

Nelson Energy is undergoing an application process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to receive permission to study the efficacy of a hydroelectric plant project.

The proposed project would involved a “closed looped storage” system, located approximately two miles east of the city of Llano, according to FERC permit application documents.

“Nelson Energy is introducing an energy storage alternative and seeking a local sponsor to carry this project forward to provide a methodology to firm renewable energy and provide a reliable energy source for the area,” said company president Doug Spaulding in a statement. “The project also will have a visual impact since the upper reservoir would extend from the ground surface to a height of 50 feet.

“The major benefit for the residents of the county and surrounding areas would be to provide a reliable energy reserve that could be employed during adverse conditions such as occurred last winter,” he added. “The concept proposed for Llano County creates the elevation difference by utilizing an underground reservoir.”

The document revealed that elements of the project would involve “excavating large-span caverns required for the powerhouse and associated chambers to house valves and transformers.”

Nelson explained that “Pumped storage projects can effectively and efficiently integrate and firm up intermittent power sources such as wind or solar power resources.”

Word of a nine-day public commenting period raised some eyebrows among Llano County residents.

“Basically, this is too large a project of immense magnitude to have only nine days to come up with a decision,” said Llano County resident Fermin Ortiz.

Ortiz was among a group of residents who acted as aggregate “watchdogs” over a 2019 planned dredging project into the Llano River-fed Sandy Creek. That project adjacent to Sunrise Beach and Sandy Harbor was paused by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and eventually resulted in the parties involved withdrawing an initial application.

On the Nelson Energy plan, Ortiz warned of the pace at which the company was moving.

“They’re going rather fast without a clear plan of action,” he said.

“It’s important that we get more data, more education so we can make a decision in support or lack thereof.

“Anyone who lives in Central Texas understands we have severe droughts very often,” Ortiz added. “We have to be very cautious stewards of our water resources.”

Among concerns is the flow of the Llano River.

The Llano River flows into the Colorado River and eventually into the upper Highland Lakes waterways – lakes LBJ, Marble Falls, Travis and eventually down to the Matagorda Bay on the Texas coast.

“The affect in Llano County and the water flow going into the lakes effects many more than just Llano County,” Ortiz said.

That path involves about 660 miles of water regulated by the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Just how an upstream hydroelectric plant would impact the chain of waterways is unknown, especially as the company embarks on a potential one-of-a-kind operation.

“The concept of underground pumped storage has been evaluated and proposed for over 50 years. However, no project has actually been constructed although many have been proposed,” Spaulding stated. “One major hurdle for the development of this type of project is cost.

“The currently proposed project would utilize Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) to excavate the underground reservoir and powerhouse. Cost estimates developed for other projects indicate that this would significantly reduce the project cost.”

Also, the company believes the project could provide an economic boost to the area.

“The project will have economic benefits during construction and during longterm operation,” Spaulding stated. “Depending upon the final ownership structure the project will likely bring a large amount of tax income to the county.”

If approved the FERC licensing process is expected to require “extensive environmental studies to provide the basis for issuance of a license that is required for project construction and operation,” Spaulding explain.

Even with the reassurances, Ortiz emphasized critical need to “safeguard the water resources.”

“Doug Spaulding has proven to be very open with communication,” Ortiz said. “That’s an important step with us.

“I feel confident that Texas has had a good history of protecting our resources especially from outside entities,” Ortiz added.